Our Story
by desirefulemison
Summary: A collection of related Mike/Mona oneshots.


"I'm sorry, but who are you?"

Mike Montgomery had arrived home from school that day to find a girl sitting on his front porch. Her head was lowered, glasses sitting beside her on the step as she cried into her arms.

Looking up, the girl gave him a wary glance. "Did they send you here to laugh at me?"

"Did who send me here? Why would I laugh at you?"

"Just go away."

"Listen, dude, I _live_ here."

The girl quirked an eyebrow, wiping stray tears off of her face as she put her glasses back on. _"You're_ Aria's brother?"

"Um, yes." _Seriously, who was this chick?_ "And you are?"

"I'm Mona. Mona Vanderwaal."

And just like that, the pieces clicked into place for Mike. He had overheard his sister's best friend Alison making fun of some girl named Mona when they had slumber parties at the Montgomery house. Only Alison had called her "Loser Mona."

Mike really didn't like Alison.

But if his sister and her friends hated Mona, what was she doing at his house?

"Listen..." he sat down beside Mona on the porch, and her eyes widened, clearly not used to people her age willingly talking to her. "Why are you here?"

"A-Ali invited me over. She said that they wanted to get to know me and that m-maybe they'd give me a makeover. But when I got here they were gone." Mona anxiously smoothed down her skirt, and Mike took the opportunity to look her over. She was wearing a sweater and a jean skirt, her hair pulled back into pigtails. Pretty but plain.

The perfect victim for Alison's wrath. He felt an overwhelming feeling of sadness for Mona.

"Why would you want to hang out with them, anyway?" He scoffed, deciding that the best course of action would be to just let her know that she wasn't missing out on much. "All they do is sit around trying on clothes and putting on makeup and talking about boys. Boring."

"I've always wanted to have friends who I can do girl things with," she said eagerly. "The only friend I have is this guy Lucas-"

"Is that Hermie?" Mike interrupted, fairly certain that he had heard Alison talking about him before too.

"-yes," she giggled, rolling her eyes at the nickname. "But it's not the same. He's a boy and he has these weird hobbies and he smells."

"Aren't there other girls at your school that you can be friends with?"

"You think they would be friends with somebody like me and risk catching Alison's wrath? No, there isn't."

"I'm sorry, dude. That blows." Mike reached out to put a hand on Mona's knee in comfort, but then thought better of it when Mona flinched.

"It's fine." Mona moved to get to her feet, feeling embarrassed at how much she had shared with a total stranger. Not only a total stranger, but the brother of Alison's best friend. Really, how stupid could she be? "I'm sorry, I should go."

"Wait." Mike got up as well, and while he was in the seventh grade and he wasn't the tallest kid around, he noticed that even he towered over her.

"Yes?"

"You seem really nice. And I think you're pretty." Mona wasn't used to being called pretty by anybody (and no, her mom did _not_ count), but she smiled at the compliment. "And you're better than them, okay? Alison and her army of wannabees."

"Thank you."

Mike smiled down at Mona for a moment, and then he moved forward, both of them leaning in until...

"Mike! What are you doing?"

The two jerked away from each other at the last minute, looking over to where Aria was standing with her friends.

Alison gave Mona a smirk when she saw her standing there. "Sorry, Mona, I forgot about our little meeting. Maybe another day?"

"I-I'll just go, Mike," Mona murmured, cheeks turning a warm red.

"No, wait." Mike turned to face his sister. "Why do you let that bitch walk all over people? People like Mona who are a hell of a lot nicer than she'll ever be."

 _"Mike!"_ Aria hissed, fearfully glancing over at Alison. "Apologize right now. Don't talk to my friends like that."

"Apologize? Why? It's true. She treats people, including _you,_ like crap and then expects people to bow down to her."

"Mike, go inside or I'm telling Mom."

"Tell Mom and I'll tell her about you standing Mona up."

"C'mon, guys, let's just go inside," Aria muttered, leading the four up to her front door.

Mona stared at Mike in pure awe for a few moments. "That was awesome."

"It was nothing," he murmured.

"No, it was. Nobody's ever stood up to Alison like that before. I bet she doesn't know what to think right now."

"Yeah, well... you don't deserve to be treated like that."

"Thank you." Before she lost her nerve she stood on her toes, giving him a kiss, and then she turned around, walking away without another word.

Mike put a hand to his lips, smiling goofily to himself at the memory.


End file.
